Bożena Ratter: The First Republic was an oasis of freedom and tolerance
date: November 02, 2024 Editor: Anna
Statement by Fr Tadeusz Isakowicz Zaleski from 2010: Poles are, which may seem paradoxical to someone, more tolerant than the citizens of any another European Union countries, and these highly developed ones. I took part in the discussion on Tolerance to National and cultural Minorities. As a associate of the joint committee on minorities at the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, I presented the following position in this discussion.
There are many breakthrough dates in the past of Poland. 1 of them, though not appreciated today, is the year 1340. This year King Casimir the large began the process of joining his state on the road – which should be clearly emphasized – a peaceful land, east of the Bug River, starting with Rusi Halicka and Podola. Unlike the principalities that the Piasts had ruled so far, they were territories inhabited by various nationalities and religions.
The next phase of this process was the Polish-Lithuanian union, which caused the ever-universal monarchy to become a conglomerate of various communities.
In these areas lived not only Poles and Lithuanians, but besides Russians, Jews and Germans, as well as Armenians, Tatars, Latvians, Karaimi and representatives of respective another nationalities. So the differentiation was huge.
The Iron regulation of the Jagillon State was tolerance to all religions and nationalities. There were deviations from this rule, but The First Republic against the background of spiritual wars in Western Europe (e.g. St Bartholomew's Night in France or the 30 Years' War in Germany) – as well as the persecution of Jews in many countries or Christians in the Ottoman Empire – was an oasis of freedom and tolerance. For this reason we may boast to this day. The end of this rule laid down the partitions and subsequent national uprisings lost. The second Republic besides referred to the Jagiellonian tradition, respecting number rights. (p. Tadeusz Isakowicz Zaleski).
To this day, we can boast of the oasis of freedom of thought, preaching fact and tolerance to the human condition and views that were the work of Fr Tadeusz Isakowicz Zaleski.
He appealed for the fact in the church and politics, contrary to the political correctness which persecuted him in prison, harassed him verbally or stripped him of his right to vote in the media and on the column of newspapers. Alone facing accusations of "thought of crime", the steadfast Priest, with the iron consequence of proclaiming the fact in the name of timeless values of God Honor of Homeland, provided individual support to the living, especially to those in need, as well as to remember those whom we were to forget. He did this to preserve the dignity of both the surviving and the cruelly murdered
When in 2012 "Rzeczpospolita" announced that on the authoritative EURO 2012 website we can read about the fact that "Lviv is the quintessence of Ukraine. It was here that the language and culture of the country survived despite practically continuous occupation" - Fr Tadeusz Isakowicz- Zaleski had the courage to publically argue a false one, due to the fact that not based on historical facts, prepared and propagated in Poland and the planet by Ukrainian nationalists and their Polish-language supporters "thesis". He explained in an interview with a journalist:
For centuries Lviv was a city with many faces, a city across Europe. Ukrainian nationalism was only born in the late 19th century. During the full period of Lvov's membership to the Republic of Poland, it was dominated by Polish culture. Until 1772, Lviv had an integral relation with the Kingdom of Poland, and these areas were never called Ukraine. It was a name defining the lands above Dnieprem, behind Kiev, Zaporozhye. Besides, the name of the country derives from "at the edge", or at the edge of the Republic. Then came the Austrian occupation. Lviv became part of Galicia, and erstwhile it gained autonomy in 1867, Poland was introduced as an authoritative language.
UEFA experts explain that later: "Lviv was under the regulation of Poles until planet War II. In 1941 the city was taken over by Nazis [sic!] and in 1944 the Soviets". What kind of nationality are these Nazis? - the writer asks.
Of course, there's no specified thing. German troops occupied Lviv in 1941 and German business occurred, not Nazi occupation. The Polish business never occurred. Lviv returned to the Republic as a consequence of the peace treaty of Poland with the USSR in Riga in 1921 and earlier as a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1944, Lviv was annexed to the USSR, although before 1939 the city never belonged to Russia.
The borders of present-day Ukraine Stalin has set a tube on the map. It's quite a few artificial boundaries. He did not think that russian Ukraine would always be independent. As a stand-alone state being, it was not until 1991. It's never been on the map of Europe before.
The summit of ignorance reached UEFA, writing that only 1 celebrated Pole Stanisław Lem was born in Lviv. It is simply a lie and exceptional thoughtlessness. Lem was a Pole of judaic origin, which is besides well reflected in the multiculturalism of Lviv. The main university was named after Jan Kazimierz, where the lecture language was Polish. I would say that there were 3 fields where Lviv made Poles celebrated all over the world: the tremendous philosophical school of Lviv-Warsaw, mathematics with the most outstanding Polish typical Stefan Banach at the head and Polish medicine.
And our soccer... This is where the Polish football league was born. The first 3 Polish clubs were created in Lviv in early 1920: a multiple Polish champion Pogoń Lviv, Lechia Lviv and Black Lions. The best Polish coach Kazimierz Górski was born here. How could UEFA miss it!
The saddest thing is that the city celebrated for its tolerance has become the habitat of utmost Ukrainian nationalism. present fans and tourists from all over the planet will not see beautiful Polish monuments in Lviv, but those celebrating Bandera and criminals from SS-Galicien. Or reworking a metric - in the Ukrainian guide I late read about the Ukrainian hero of King Jan III Sobieski. Lviv is rapidly becoming a city of anti-European culture.
For the first time in this region of Europe, UEFA should be aware of the complexity of its nationalities. Instead, it falsifies past and offends Poles. As a result, the UEFA, by its stupidity, is moving both nations distant from each other, and these championships were expected to be a bridge building good relations between them. Content on this side, the Ukrainian authorities can usage to conflict with Poles as sanctioning their explanation of past by an crucial European organisation. Unfortunately, the current Polish authorities have not responded to Ukrainian excesses for respective years.
Fr Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski
Unfortunately, the events of the year 2022 revealed that UEFA's views have been implanted over these 10 years in ruling minds, in the media, in technological circles, and even in associations, and any effort to argue them, was considered a "thought of a crime" calling for relations with the russian agent. She has finished her life as an oasis of freedom and tolerance, and this state, enhanced, continues to this day.
Oh, my God.
